Since the 1987 border dispute, the two governments had refrained from using military means to assert its respective territorial claims. However, the sending of troops into the Mano I & II islets shows that Lao is not reluctant to use force to assert its rightful claim. The sending of troops into the islands may be seen as an act of aggression under international law; however, Thailand is toothless to retaliate because it knows that it will lose in the International Court of Justice. History taught the Thai government that it never prevailed on territorial disputes with its neighbors.